Goldman Sachs employees are filling Jeb Bush's campaign war chest

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s (R) presidential campaign raised gobs of money from Goldman Sachs employees during his first 16 days as a candidate.

Bush’s first campaign finance filing, released Wednesday, revealed that Bush raised almost $US150,000 from people who specifically listed Goldman Sachs in their job title. Wall Street Journal reporter Beth Reinhard wrote that the investment bank appears to be “far and away” Bush’s biggest employee contributor.

That total doesn’t include spouses or others who did not list Goldman as their employer, even though their donations may be linked to the Wall Street powerhouse. And that’s only looking at contributors who gave directly to Bush’s presidential campaign, which launched just a month ago. Before that, Bush was raising far more money for his so-called “super PAC” that can take unlimited contributions.

Records show that the vast majority of donations from Goldman employees were $US2,700, the maximum amount under federal campaign laws. Among the notable names were Robert Zoellick, Eric Lane, Gene Sykes, David Solomon, Dina Powell, and Timothy O’Neill.

Earlier this year, Politico’s Ben White profiled Bush’s push for Goldman cash, which he framed as a competition against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner in 2016.

“Bush hopes to go head to head for Goldman money and support with Hillary Clinton, who also has strong ties to the bank and is expected to raise large sums from its executives to help fund her likely presidential campaign,” White wrote. “And it means employees of the nation’s richest investment bank are increasingly putting their money on the two best-known candidates, both of whom are viewed across Wall Street as centrists who could cool some of the scorching anti-banker rhetoric and policies emanating from the Elizabeth Warren wing on the left and the tea party movement on the right.”

Goldman Sachs declined to comment on the donations to Business Insider.